Flights
Changi is a major global hub with direct flights from everywhere and a reputation as the best airport in the world that is largely deserved — it is worth arriving early rather than late. Twelve to thirteen hours from Europe non-stop. The city is also the natural stopover between Europe and Australasia, which makes it easy to combine.
Getting around
The MRT is fast, clean, cheap and covers the island; buses fill the gaps and taxis are metered and honest. Nobody needs a car, and owning one is deliberately made prohibitive. Everything is within forty minutes of everything else.
When to come
Equatorial and consistent: twenty-six to thirty-two degrees, humid, all year. The wetter monsoon runs November to January. There is no cheap season, though fares dip in February and in the second half of the year. Note the haze that can drift in from regional forest fires between June and October.
Money and cost
Singapore is expensive, comparable to Zurich or London for accommodation and alcohol, but food at the hawker centres is outstanding and costs a few dollars — the gap between those two facts is the key to a sane budget. Cards and contactless work everywhere.
Orders of magnitude
| Return flight from Europe | €600 to €1,100 |
|---|---|
| Mid-range hotel night | SGD 180 to 350 |
| Hawker centre meal | SGD 4 to 8 |
| Restaurant meal | SGD 35 to 80 |
What holds everywhere
- Insurance covering medical costs and repatriation stops being optional as soon as local healthcare is limited. Check it actually covers the destination: many policies exclude areas under adverse travel advice.
- Carry cash. In much of the world cards work in the big cities and nowhere else. Check the ATM situation and your bank's charges before leaving.
- Leave margin on connections. A tight transfer on a thinly served route is expensive: the next flight may be tomorrow, or in three days.
- The real budget runs over two years, not one trip: repeated flights, paperwork, translations, legalisations, any support sent. It is always underestimated.